Tuesday, September 20, 2005

I have a very uneventful Birthday coming up. My 32nd. I know, I can hear everyone going "He's 32? He acts like a child!". (I do consistently get carded, so there's a feather in my cap)Well, that's only half true. I am a big kid, no doubt about that. But I'm also not immature, in a juvenile sense. I've met some guys in their 40's who I actually feel embarrassed for, because they act like infants. So, I am not of that variety. I am a definite Gen. X'er, if that even exists. I don't do anything in the way of the generation before me. My parents, and all my friends parents were married by the time they were 23, at the latest. All had kids by their mid twenties, and thought they had careers. It appears to me, they had jobs. And while my Mother and I consistently fight about what begin an adult means, I can sum it up in one sentence-be happy with what you do. My entire family had miserable, some well paying, jobs. They taught me that you suck it up, do what you hate, simply to make ends meet. No thanks.

I told my grandparents that I won't do anything I don't at least have an interest in. And I mean it. I quit my construction job of 7 years because it wasn't for me, and I knew it wasn't, for 7 years. And while my family tosses the word 'bum' or the more hip 'slacker ' around to describe me,(or is that paranoia?) I laugh in their face. I have no children. No car payment. No mortgage. No marriage. (much to Katie's chagrin) In other words, no big responsibilities that can tie me down to any place I may be residing at any specific time. I am responsible only for me. If I fail with writing, I won't be unhappy. I will die knowing I did everything I wanted, not what has been dictated to me.

Sure, I can hear the eyes roll. "Who does this punk think he is?" Well, that's sort of the answer, I am a punk in some regards. (Definition? A young person, especially a member of a rebellious counterculture group.) That is me. I make movies, write, Or Die Trying. Cheers to all you trailblazers and trendsetters!

So here we are, fast approaching my 32nd year, and I suddenly feel very happy about it.